I recently purchased a 2010 Chevy Malibu LTZ. While the car was mostly in good shape, there were a few issues with it. One of them was a bad driver-side visor.
The mirror cover was broke and would keep falling off. Not only that, but the lights wouldn't come on. I ordered a replacement visor and then looked up how to replace it. That's when I started to worry; I couldn't find any instructions, guides, documentation, or videos that showed how to replace an illuminated visor!
Every guide was for a non-illuminated visor. They mentioned taking off a plastic clip, removing some screws, and then that was it. There was no mention of how to disconnect or reconnect the wire.
I'm not good at writing guides, so I'll just list what I did.
Tools Needed:
- #15 Torx Screwdriver
- #2 Philips/Cross Screwdriver
- Small Flathead Screwdriver
- Needle Nose Pliers
Time Needed:
- Maybe 30 Minutes
Other guides start with removing the circular cover the conceals the screws. You can use the Small Flathead Screwdriver to aid with this. There are four small clips holding it on.
Once you remove the circular cover, you reveal the piece that holds the visor to the car. You should see three screws. Use the Torx 15 Screwdriver to remove the screws.
Even when you've removed the screws, you will notice that the visor is still attached to the ceiling/headliner. There are multiple plastic clips you need to disengage to get it to release.
You can disengage the middle plastic clips with the Needle Nose Pliers by pinching them together. The left and right clips can be disengaged by using the Small Flathead Screwdriver. Refer the to the next photo to see where the clip locations are at in relation to the screw holes.
This is the part where other guides and videos left me hanging. Once you've removed the screws and removed the plastic clips, you will find that the visor is still tethered to your car via an electrical cable! There is almost no slack, so you cannot pull anything out to unplug/disconnect it.
So how do you disconnect the wire? Well, you have to get to the other side of the headliner. To do this, we need to remove the "hook" on the other side of the visor, where it clips/anchors into place.
To remove to remove the hook, use the Small Flathead Screwdriver to open the back of it, then use the Philips Screwdriver on the screw that was hidden in its back.
With both the left side of the visor (with the three screws) and the hook on the right side (with its one screw) removed, you can now pull down the headliner a little where it meets the windshield.
For the next part, I actually had to get out of my car and look through the windshield to see where the wire was at. I couldn't get a good photo, due to the glare of the sun, but I could see that the wire from the visor was plugged into something that was secured to the top-side of the ceiling/headliner material (where it meets the underside of the metal roof).
Using the Small Flathead Screwdriver with one hand, try to lift the clip holding the plug in at the end of the visor cable, and with your other hand try to pull on the visor cable to unplug it.
The following photo shows what it looked like with the headliner pulled down and the visor cable sticking out (as seen from the outside of the car, looking in).
This next photo shows what the cable looks like when unplugged and the visor fully removed from the ceiling/headliner.
The next steps don't have any photos to show.
Hold the replacement visor up to the headliner and push its power cord through both the hole in the headliner and the white plastic on the other side of the headliner.
While standing outside the car, again, I blindly tried to align the end of the visor cable to the plug that was mounted in the topside of the ceiling/headliner. Since the end of the visor cable is keyed and has a clip, it only fits one way and will snap into place.
Once the new cable was plugged in, I tested the illumination by lifting the mirror cover. Success! I had lights!
Since the light was working, I went ahead and reconnected the clips from the white clasp (seen in a previous photo where the visor is hanging by its cable).
I had to reach into the headliner with my right hand to hold the white clasp while lifting up the visor with my left hand. When the clips were lined up, I pressed them together.
With the visor arm clipped together, I put its three screws back, which secures it to the roof of the car.
I then put the visor hook/anchor back on (on the right side of the visor), and pushed up the headliner to make sure it wasn't sagging/dipping.
I now have a visor with working lights and a mirror cover that doesn't fall off into my lap while driving!
The following are some guides, videos, and links that I used for reference.
Chevy Cruze Sun Visor Removal / Replacement Process - Same for Sonic, Trax, Malibu, Encore, Equinox (YouTube) - While this does show much of how to take off a visor, it doesn't show anything with the electrical wire.
Passenger side sun visor (ChevyMalibuForum.com) - This post mentioned the difficulty of getting your hand in the headliner, with the next post mentioning that it was "extremely difficult" to replace.
Sun visor removal (ChevyMalibuForum.com) - This post has someone asking for help, and the only solution gives a vague answer about removing the plastic anchor that holds the visor.
illuminated vanity lights in sun visors (ChevyMalibuForum.com) - This was from a thread on adding an illuminated visor to a car that didn't originally have one installed. This poster mentioned the complexity and difficulty with working with a headliner.
(Last Updated: May 24th, 2018)